Name: Mrs. Michelle L. Stephens - Oklahoma Christian University

Lawson CommonsOne of the initiatives of OC’s HigherLearning~Higher Calling fundraising campaignwill soon become reality with the constructionof the Lawson Commons.Named for alumni Richard (66) and PatLawson (67), the commons will encompass theentire student residential area in the western partof the OC campus, along with the three-tieredmall area stretching fromthe new University Houseon the west to the MabeeLearning Center on theeast.In addition to the existingstudent housing that isbeing substantially upgradedand increased, two newstructures will be addedto Lawson Commons: an80’ x 100’ covered pavilionfor university events andstudent activities, and an85-foot clock tower.The pavilion and clocktower will be connectedwith a grove of trees, andthe entire mall area will beimproved with new hardscape, additional treesand other landscaping. Construction will beginthis spring and is expected to take 18 to 24months to complete.The Lawsons have donated stock valued atalmost $30 million to OC over the last severalyears. Richard Lawson is co-founder of St. Paul,Minn.-based Lawson Software and has servedon the OC board of trustees since 1994. He washonored as an Outstanding Alumnus from OC’sCollege of Science and Engineering in 1998.“The recent transformation of the studentresidential areas and the strengthening of theuniversity’s financial structure are largely due tothe generosity of Richard and Pat Lawson,” OCpresident Mike O’Neal said. “OC will be everindebted to them for this transformative gift.”The Lawsons also established chairs to supportacademic areas that arespecial to them: the RichardLawson Endowed Chair inProfessional Studies andthe Pat Lawson EndowedChair in Arts and Sciences.O’Neal described PatLawson as one of OC’smost effective volunteersand encouragers. She is acentral figure in the successof the North Texas AlumniChapter.“Her love for OC and itsstudents is demonstratedregularly by her personalinvolvement in connectingNorth Texas alumni,students and prospectivestudents with Oklahoma Christian,” O’Nealsaid.The comprehensive student housing initiativethat is nearing completion is another piece ofthe Higher Learning~Higher Calling campaign.For more information on this and otherplanned projects, contact Vice President forAdvancement John deSteiguer at (405) 425-5094or at john.desteiguer@oc.edu, or go towww.higherlearninghighercalling.com. VISION SPRING 2006 Transforming lives for Christian faith, leadership, and service.